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Michael Fassbender is expected to be in the mix for this year’s Best Actor race for his portrayal of Steve Jobs. But he could receive some competition from the lead actor in Justin Kerzel’s new vision of Macbeth: Michael Fassbender.

The Weinstein Company is releasing the dark Shakespearean drama on Dec. 4, seven months after it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. Fassbender and his Lady Macbeth, Marion Cotillard, won raves, with critics lauding his seething performance.

In a new featurette from Film4, the actors and their director discuss translating the classic stageplay into a cinematic western, with Fassbender reveling in the imposing challenge of the complex king. “Each day when I finished work I was like, ‘God, there’s 1,000 other ways to do that scene,’” the Irish-German actor says. “It’s never ending. It’s kind of depressing. And it’s so uplifting as well at the same time. And I think that’s why it’s still around.”

Fassbender eventually dialed in to the character after Kerzel made a novel suggestion. “This idea that [Macbeth is] suffering heavily from post-traumatic stress disorder was something that never occurred to me, until Justin said it to me, and then I was like, ‘Of course, this is, like, everything.’”